


In tenebris

by Demonia



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Horror, Angst, Blood and Gore, Consent Issues, M/M, Multi, Religious Themes, Tag for dub-con just to be sure, au with a mix of supernatural/constantine/the conjuring universe, this is not a happy fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-08-10 22:19:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16463435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demonia/pseuds/Demonia
Summary: Demons, angels and ghosts aren’t as mythological as they should be. If these entities roam the human world they roam in a separate dimension – a darker and crueler place and they’re just waiting for the moment to strike the poor unknowing humans and take their body and soul. In this dimension it’s eat or be eaten.Some children can see glimpses of the other dimension but as soon as they turn seven they lose this ability. Those who don’t lose the ability completely usually banish the thought to protect themselves from the darkness lurking around the corner. Jason was never like other children. He was part of the other dimension just as much as it was part of him. Sometimes he wished he didn’t have his supernatural abilities, other times he relished in the moment as he got to exorcise an ugly ass demon, kick an angel and tell them to get the stick out of their ass or even get to destroy the soul of a bad guy.Being damned to Hell suddenly didn’t seem as bad.





	1. When the demons want you dead and the angels want to snap your neck.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t written in a long time but this idea just wouldn’t leave me alone.
> 
> Warning: this fic will have religious and mythological themes but most of them will not be correct, will be mixed up or will be wrong in some other way. This was not written to offend any believe or religion. This is a work of fiction and should be treated as such. 
> 
> The fic is basically a mix of Supernatural, Constantine and the Conjuring Universe.

From the early days of his life, misfortune followed Jason like a shadow. Jason liked to think that his shitty life didn’t start because of otherworldly interferences. By now though he started to doubt this hypothesis. Jason was like a beacon not only because of who he was as a person but also because of his off the charts spiritual powers and energy. He had damned so many demons back to hell that he was probably on number one of any demon’s shitlist. Angels didn’t like him either, he occasionally destroyed souls after all which was _one_ of the reasons why he was damned to get a VIP trip to Hell once he died.

During his birth he should have died, as his mother did, but by a miracle he somehow survived. It’s a golden rule that human children can’t be (directly) touched by any entity. Neither demons nor evil souls can harm little children until they turn seven. Even if the child somehow dies, the soul has a free ticket to heaven, which makes killing children very unattractive for the otherworldly wrongdoers. Around six months later though his dad, who was a raging alcoholic, got into a fatal car crash. This time too, as if by some miracle, Jason hadn’t died even though he was in the car with his father. Everything that he knew about his dad still made him question how in the fuck the guy had bought, or stolen, a car seat for Jason. It must have been a damn good one too for Jason not to die from the car flipping over.

But wait, that wasn’t even all.

After the deaths of his parents nobody of the relatives wanted to take care of the baby, nobody but his grandma who was a nun (not exactly a  ** _nun_** ) at some godforsaken church located somewhere in England. Jason pretty much was disposed at the church orphanage as his grandma was too busy serving god (not exactly **_god_** )to take care of him. When he was a baby that was great because he couldn’t remember shit. 

What he _did_ remember was shit hitting the fan when he became conscious of the things and the world around him. The creepy 18th-century orphanage they lived in, the church itself and the cemetery next to the church were all great places for children to play (not). All of the mentioned were the hot spots for ghost activity, the giant forest surrounding the premises didn’t help. All in all it was a very refreshing ( **terrifying** ) experience to grow up in such a great place. If he didn’t know better he might have even thought the ghosts to be his childhood friends. At some point he was pretty sure that some of his ‘childhood friends’ tried to kill him though so he quickly rectified that way of thinking.

While he was a fun and flexible child (in his opinion) most other children in the orphanage found him problematic and weird. He always spotted bruises and cuts and more often than not could be seen running around as if running away from something or someone. Almost nobody wanted to play with him, scared that the otherworldly bullies would target them too. The children that could also see or sense the things he could kept their distance from him and ignored the things around them as much as they could.

Cue him realizing something was off with him.

At first only spirits came to him for help. Jason had seen a lot of different ghosts throughout the years because of this even before he submerged himself in the occult. All in all dealing with souls of the deceased wasn’t that hard. Ghosts _usually_ didn’t mean harm, worst-case scenery was that they had unfinished business like vengeance. They could scare you and sometimes hurt you but most of the times they were just lost and scared and they just needed time to accept the fact that they had died. The ghosts with bad intentions seemed to disappear very quickly for some reason and at first Jason didn’t understand why.

The first time he noticed something was off was when he found out about the protection barrier around the church’s ground. He was seven and his grandma had taken him out shopping. His grandmother was always away on ‘church’ missions and rarely came back. She was a stern woman but her eyes were soft and always had a twinkle of mischief in them. What Jason remembered to day was the bright aura surrounding her that made Jason feel at ease and safe. Even though she didn’t spend a lot of time with Jason he knew that she loved him. His nana would always bring him books and other gifts from her trips.

The small town next to the church was a cozy and warm place. For the first time he didn’t feel the prickling on his skin. He got so used to that feeling that he didn’t even know it existed until he left the premises of the barrier. When he asked his grandmother about this she looked at him in shock and then with so much pain in her green eyes that Jason’s heart broke. 

“Oh my sweet little boy.” She said pulling him in to embrace him, keeping him close.

Jason didn’t understand then why his grandmother was crying.

When he finally did understand it was too late.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes he wished he had died when he was a kid, he wouldn’t have to deal with all this bullshit then.

He groaned from the effort it took to keep the door closed. The unholy screeches from behind the door were a great motivation to push harder. Still the door rattled and banged menacingly as the thing on the other side tried to get in. It screamed and cussed at Jason, occasionally laughing and clearly saying that it would enjoy ripping him apart and about how happy Hell would be to have him.

Jason had heard enough in his years of hunting (and getting hunted by) the occult to not even bat an eyelash at the threats and gloats of the demon. The only bad part this time was that it had been something of a trap and it wasn’t a lower ranked demon as they had initially thought. 

Rebecca Klaus had been possessed by a demon nearly three weeks ago. The help of the local church and priest proved futile and the incident somehow reached anyone capable of handling it way too late. In the three weeks that the demon had possessed the woman it had not only consumed her soul but also the souls of humans around it. The demon had hid the bodies and lay low, giving the church workers the image that Rebecca was getting better. Because of this false information and the little theatrical show it was way stronger than Jason had expected it to be when he finally arrived at the crime spot. 

Fuckers were getting smarter by the day.

“ROY! If you don’t hurry the fuck up with those wards I’m giving you the honor of getting eaten first by miss banshee over here!” He exclaimed loudly as he glared at his partner. Said partner was taking his sweet ass time drawing wards on the floor of the living room once belonging to the Klaus family. Roy was a good hunter that knew what he was doing but his spiritual powers weren’t as great as Jason’s.

“I would like to kindly refuse as she’s not my type!” The ginger retorted as he finished drawing the symbols, checking over them one last time before he gave a thumbs up to Jason.

That was the cue for Jason to step away from the door and pray to whatever deity out there that still wanted to cover his ass that this would work. As soon as he let go of the door the possessed woman – if you could still call it that - barged in. Jason himself ran towards Roy as fast as he could and went to stand right in front of the ginger as if to protect him. The door flew right into the wall and of its hinges because of the force that the creature used.

The eyes of the thing moved disturbingly in its distorted head. When the eyes finally settled on Jason and then the wards on the floor it smiled menacingly, saliva and blood dripping from its mouth.

“Do you really think I’m so stupid to step onto that circle, little humans?” The demon croaked, cocking its head to the side as if genuinely surprised by their stupidity.

“No, but it would have been awfully nice of you if you did, bitch.” Jason said with a snort as he rubbed the beats of his rosary with his fingers.

The demon ignored his quip and focused on the rosary, laughing and cooing at him. “Why so nervous, Todd?” The thing teased as it started circling around the circle like a predator stalking its prey. The humans should have drawn a bigger circle if they actually wanted to keep it away from them. This circle was barely big enough to cover half of the room. 

Jason puffed out his chest in irritation at the comment. “Nervous? Have you seen your fucking face in the mirror? I don’t think anyone can look at that shit without feeling sick. I’ve seen a lot of demons but damn you’re the ugliest of them all.” He leered as he took a step forward.

The demon looked a bit taken aback by the display of aggression and the nerve of the human. If it was amused before then now it was pissed.

 “Well thankfully there are no mirrors here.” The demon screeched, the voice becoming even more distorted as it quickened its pace and lunged for Jason, avoiding the circle narrowly. The demon had enough of the little game of cat and mouse it seemed.

Before it could reach the human, Jason ducked to the side. The demon expected the human to put up a fight but what the demon had not anticipated was the other annoyance to be holding a big mirror in his hands decorated with binding wards. The demon was stunned and locked into place by its true face reflected in the mirror.

“You’re wrong about that. Like what you see, hell bitch?” Jason mocked as he raised his rosary to the eye level of the demon and started chanting in Latin. The wards shone a blinding white light as he chanted and the demon screeched as it started burning from inside, eyes rolling back, its essence separating from the human body and splitting in multiple parts. The black haired man sprayed the demon with holy water just to make its agony worse.

“ _In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti_.”

The mutilated corpse of the girl fell to the ground after these words and the now separated demon attempted to crawl away but Roy kept the mirror on it. It didn’t get far anyway as Jason started chanting a different spell, abandoning the rosary and lifting the sleeves of his shirt to reveal two tattooed half circles on the sides of his lower arms. The light from the circle on the floor turned an eerie black as he connected the two designs.

The eyes of the demon widened and it screeched a disturbing ‘no’ as the floor opened and black tendrils reached for the demon. They wrapped around the demon with a sickening crunch and started pulling it right back into the void that had opened. 

“You. WILL. Pay. TODD.” The demon hissed out loudly before the floor consumed it and the endless darkness disappeared.

As soon as Jason finished his chanting he wobbled and fell to his hands and knees. Settling for a more comfortable position he laid down on the floor in exhaustion and groaned as he felt the aftermath of opening a portal to the void take a toll on him. The dark whispers grew louder the more he experimented and played with the void. It was as if something or someone was coming closer every time and occasionally he would feel something caressing his face.

Talk about creepy.

His head hurt like a bitch, it was worse than a hangover and it felt like his whole being was getting split into two. To make it worse, the tattoos on his arms moved around like liquid ink, spreading and convulsing like the ebb and the flow of the sea, twisting around and up his arms like snakes.

“I already paid enough you motherfuckers.” He retorted to no one in particular. He doubted the demon could still hear him.

The void destroyed everything, even demons. It was like an universal shredder to Jason and he used it for these purposes to get rid of certain kinds of demons and particularly bad souls. Jason never dwelled on why the void only took certain thing and released the others. It was like the void listened to Jason. That or it was very much alive, had an intellect of itself and a very picky appetite. Some other day he would shudder at that thought. That’s why he usually settled for kicking demons back to Hell. Exorcisms and banishing the cretins back to Hell took less of a toll on his body and mind after all. It was one less step towards his impending death. 

The situation with the Klaus family was different though as the demon had already taken over the human’s body and thus became part of the ‘human’ realm. They would have to separate it from their realm first before they could banish it. This in itself was one of the most annoying rituals Jason had ever dealt with as they would need the help of an angel. Yes, he hated angels in general and _asking_ them for help was problematic because of who Jason was as a person. On top of that the demon had intertwined with the owner’s soul and multiple other souls. It would take a lot of time - time they didn’t have either way - and effort to untangle all the souls from the demon. If they didn’t then all the souls it consumed would have been damned to Hell because of the connection. The void automatically broke that connection as it tore the demon apart.

Roy sighed and carefully placed the mirror against the wall, then sat down next to Jason. They sat in silence, both relieved that they were still alive.

“T-thank you.” A whisper of air suddenly said and Jason opened his eyes to look at what had probably been what Rebecca Klaus and the other murdered people looked like before they had turned into that atrocity lying on the ground. If Jason could kiss the void he would.

The merged ghost looked frightened and disturbed but it looked at Jason with big round eyes. Jason knew that look.

He sighed tiredly and sat up to smile reassuringly at the ghost. “Go on, don’t linger too long. You’ll be safe on the other side.”

It smiled at him shyly and with unsure steps it stepped into the tunnel of light that had opened behind it. One last time the ghost turned back to look at Jason but the voices calling it at the end of the tunnel made its hesitation disappear. It looked happy and Jason could understand why but unlike the poor souls Jason could see more than that.

He grimaced at the beautiful lie.If his life was bad then he didn’t want to think about how bad his afterlife would be. 

When Jason turned to look at Roy the other had a challenging look on his face.

“What?” Jason bit out.

“Don’t you always claim that heaven is as shit as hell? Minus the torture of course.” The ginger said with a shrug, dropping the smirk.

“Really, Roy? You want to do this now?” The black haired man said exasperated. “You know _why_ I say that but trust me, heaven is still way better than hell or purgatory for normal humans. Although I’m starting to personally think that I’d like to just be thrown into the void so I can get all this shit over with.” 

Roy just shrugged again as he stood up from the ground and dusted of his clothing. “You better not regret this someday.” He winced when he noticed his torn arm. “Son of a bitch! It scratched me!”

 

* * *

 

 “I heard you and mister Harper have taken care of the demon from Beacon?” Father Pennyworth asked as he sat down next to Jason. The black haired man was sitting on a small bench in front of the White church in Manhattan.

 Jason just grunted as an answer making the old man sigh. He wasn’t in the talkative mood it seemed.

“How are you feeling?”

“I feel like shit but I’m alive and that’s a start.” Jason said gruffly as he took a box of cigarettes from his leather jacket. As he lit the cigarette and took a puff the bandages on his hands didn’t go unnoticed.

The priest looked at him worriedly but didn’t say anything.

They sat in silence for a while, Jason smoking his cigarette while they both looked at the people walking the busy streets of Manhattan.

“Sometimes I wonder what we- what _I_ am doing all this for.” Jason said, frustration lacing his words. He didn’t move his eyes from the street. “We are limited recourses and we can’t help everyone. There are way too many bad things out there for us to take care of.” He paused. “Like, yeah, sure, I understand by now there is _probably_ no way back and maybe me doing all this will somehow, _someday_ , rectify my soul in the eyes of Heaven. By now though I’m not even hoping on that, I’m sure as hell not going to grovel before the almighty bitch and her winged gooses like _some_ of us. God has long ago abandoned humanity so I can’t reach him, that’s for sure.”

He looked unsure for a moment before he continued. “Even if I did, that wouldn’t change anything, Satan and Lucifer have a pretty solid claim on my soul by now and they will fight for it, though if they don’t reach me first I’m pretty sure the Void will.” Jason rubbed his forehead and laughed. “So what’s left for me? I’m basically screwed, no matter what I do!”

The priest turned to look at him thoughtfully before answering the younger man. “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. No matter what anyone says, Jason, you’re a hero to many. You’ve helped so many people and souls in the short years of your life. Sometimes your methods are a bit … disputable-“ Jason snorted at that, leave it to Alfred to make everything appear more positive. “-but the smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.” Father Pennyworth cleared his throat. “What happens after … well, don’t you youngsters have this saying that you should live every day as if it’s the last? I think you should focus less on what’s to come and just enjoy the moment.” 

Jason gawked at the priest. “Did you just low-key tell me about YOLO?”

The older man laughed. “I’m not discouraging you from making preparations though and that’s why I have something for you.” He reached for the small bag sitting next to him as he said that. 

“Your grandmother always used to say that little goals give little achievements, big goals win big success and she used to be one of the best thieves in the world before she converted!” Alfred laughed as he thought about Selina. 

The old man retrieved a small package from the bag and handed it to Jason.

The raven looked at him in question and took the package. The moment his hands touched the package his eyes widened.

“Alfred … is this what I think it is?” Jason looked at the priest in disbelief before turning back to the package to carefully unwrap it.

“There is light despite all of the darkness. Never lose hope, young Jason.” The old man said as he patted Jason on the back, he then stood up from the bench and walked towards the church entrance not given Jason a chance to question him.

 

* * *

 

Time went by like a flash for Jason and he didn’t even notice how he had gotten back to his apartment somewhere in the rundown part of the city of New York. The apartment wasn’t anything special but it was home.

He groaned as he threw himself on the couch. It had been a long few weeks of bullshit and he needed a break. He could already feel the mental breakdown and depression hit him like a train. He needed a drink.

“Don’t even think about it.” A very familiar woman’s voice said. 

Scratch that, he needed a _lot_ of drinks.

“Kori, I’ve had a long fucking day and I would really appreciate it if I could catch a fucking break right about fucking now. You feel me?” He said as he threw his head back and covered his face with his arm.

“Jason, you’re playing with fire. The Void isn’t for your benefit, it’s a prison and you’re feeding whatever it is that’s in there.” The witch continued without showing any mercy for Jason’s state of body and mind.

He groaned. “The right thing to say is ‘thank you’ but who the fuck told you anyway? Was it Roy again? I swear to god he better not show himself for a while or I’m beating his ass!” He could already feel the satisfaction that would bring him. As much as he loved Roy, the ginger deserved a good beating on occasions. 

Back to the problem at hand: Kori Anders - witch, best friend and general pain in the ass.

“Roy is just worried about you.” The bright haired woman said. It grew darker behind Jason’s eyes and he realized she had moved to stand in front of him. ”Jason, we both are. We are forever indebted to you for what you’ve done and you always make it seem like it’s no big deal but damn Jason you’re dooming yourself.”

“Okay, first of all, it wasn’t and never will be a big deal. You’re _not_ indebted to me, I did what I had to and you would have done the same for me.” He moved his arm from his face and faced his friend with determination. She looked at him with her unnatural green eyes and he could feel the tension and worry radiate from her. “Secondly, I was already doomed. Even before I met you and Roy I was already damned to go to Hell so the Void having the right on a second opinion isn’t _that_ bad.”

“I don’t want to lose you, Jason.” The witch whispered, averting her eyes.

“And you don’t have to. Relax for a bit.” He said as he pulled her by her arm, forcefully making her sit down on the couch next to him. “You of all people should know that I won’t go down without a fight.” He looked her straight in the eyes as he said so and he was glad to see that the frown on her face slightly lifted.

“That’s for sure.” She retorted rolling her eyes. “Just promise me you’ll leave the Void alone from now on. Your symptoms are getting worse and I really don’t want the prisoner to come out,” She said as she slapped him on the back, “also for humanity’s sake.”

“About that, you’ll never guess what I’ve gotten my hands on.” Jason said with a cheeky grin, completely ignoring the seriousness of the conversation. 

He didn’t get far in explaining what Alfred had given him as he heard a lot of things falling over and breaking from what he thought was his bathroom. He looked at Kori with worry but calmed down when he saw that she was facepalming and muttering something about an idiot.

As if on cue a very flustered Roy appeared in his living room, holding a bottle of shampoo in his hand. “I’m sorry, Jaybird, I accidentally broke your bathroom cabinet.”

“I guess I’m getting to beat your ass sooner than I thought.” Jason said with a devious smirk on his face. The smirk vanished as he remembered a very important detail. “How the fuck did you two get into my apartment?”

While Kori and Roy tried to calm Jason down none of them noticed how cat-like cerulean eyes with unnatural black sclera looked at the display from a distance. A black pointed tail moved back and forth as if agitated but the four bat-like black wings rested calmly on the back of the creature. The demon had a frighteningly beautiful face that he was resting on his palm, tapping his long black nailed finger against his temple. 

“Damian, how about you stop playing with that human and send it back?” The smaller demon said not even turning around to look at the half-bred raging behind him.

“This son of a bitch killed numerous animals! He even drowned kittens. They had such a bright life ahead of them!” The bigger creature bit out angrily as he continued torturing the human soul, ripping it into pieces and punching it over and over again just as he had done to the actual body previously. Dick felt no remorse for the human, or _humans_ for that matter, but Damian would literally jump anyone that dared to harm animals and it was slowly getting out of hand. Any more of this and the gruesome deaths and disappearances would actually start to attract unwanted attention. Not that he minded the attention but Bruce did and he was really not feeling like having another lecture any time soon from the ruler of Hell.

“They’ll get what they deserve in the end anyway, you have a whole circle in Hell just for them, little brother, what’s a few hundred years to you?” Dick said, amusement in his words. Damian puffed up his black feathers in defense like an overgrown crow. He was always so easily ruffled and that made him an easy target for Dick’s teasing.

“You say that, Dick, but you’re the one who could barely wait 7 humans years before you could come to the human realm again. I’ve heard so much of your whining about _your_ human and about how bored you were that I was about ready to pull out my hair at some point.” Damian casually pointed out before taking a massive bite out of the tortured soul and then proceeding to eat it completely. He liked his fingers when he was done and smirked at his older brother. “So what’s a few hundred years to **_you_**?”

Before Damian could react, Dick had him pinned to the floor of the roof. He had a nasty hold on Damian’s wings and Damian winced as his brother twisted his hands around the black feathers painfully. Dick had an unreadable expression on his face but the warning bells in Damian’s head were loud and clear. “More than you’ll ever know.” He said distantly and Damian caught himself thinking that Dick sounded sad when he said that but he was quickly snapped out of that thought as Dick started stroking his wings in a soothing manner.

It was no wonder that many feared Dick, you never knew what he was thinking. One moment he could be friendly and the next he would snap your neck without batting an eyelash. He was the master of deceit and trickery. The only one capable of handling him was Bruce, known by the name of Satan. Dick himself had many names but Bruce had long ago bestowed on him the name-

 **_Lucifer_ ** _._


	2. The less you know the better.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason finally begins to see the problem thanks to Tim and Oracle. Roy and Kori are just glad he does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and comments! Sorry for the delay but I kind of got sidetracked to where exactly I was going with this fic. The Sabrina Netflix original has slightly thrown me off balance and now this fic is getting a slightly altered plot. 
> 
> Oops.
> 
> A lot of plot and explanation in this chapter but I found it to be really necessary to understand what the fuck will be going on next. 
> 
> Enjoy the slightly creepy TimJay!

Having nightmares since a young age made Jason used to the notion of what exactly a bad night’s rest meant.

His job, if you could call it that, couldn’t be put on the same level as doctors, nurses or even office clerks that worked themselves into the grave to make a career.

Sure, he believed that doctors suffered, like if they lost a patient, both in body and mind but Jason’s life gave him _more_ than physical and mental exhaustion. He could feel it in his core, his whole being, including his very soul, was suffering from the things he did. The fact that he had a dire fatalistic approach didn’t help his health.

And they dared say that knowledge was power. In his case the more he knew the more miserable his life became.

It seemed like he was in his apartment but at the same time it wasn’t exactly his home. The closest he could guess was that he was in the dimension of the occult.

No, that observation didn’t feel quite right either.

He decided not to dwell on where exactly he was but instead focused on what he was feeling. The good thing he noticed was that he could move. The bad thing, he somehow knew he was in a dream but it didn’t feel like any other dreams he had before; this one was darker, more sinister. It was like his dream was possessed. Like it was induced by an unnatural occurrence. He couldn’t put his finger on it but he knew that he had to get out. He _needed_ to get out.

“Hello, Jason.” A voice as clear as water said and Jason snapped his head to the source so fast that he could feel the muscles ache in his neck.

Sitting on the lone chair by the window was a creature with a very light and feminine appearance. Something about the thing immediately put Jason off though and made his skin break out in goose bumps and cold sweat. It somehow resembled a human, they all  _tried_ to resemble humans for some reason, but the creature looked out of this world by how perfect it was.

The unknown stranger reminded him of _someone_ he would rather not think about. The observation made more alarms go off in his head as he scanned the creature; Black hair flowing like ink stopped just above the chin and framed the face like a veil. The thing looked young but Jason knew better than to judge the occult by their appearance. _Especially_ things with midnight blue eyes that glowed in the dark made him suspicious.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Jason said with a bite to his tone. He was really not in the mood for anyone to ruin his well-deserved rest. He hadn’t kicked out Kori and Roy for this _thing_ to ruin him going to bed on time for once.

The creature smiled at him but Jason could tell that there was nothing friendly about it. “I’m Timothy but you can call me Tim. We’ll be spending a _lot_ of time together from now on, Jason.” Tim said in a chipper tone, as if he was telling Jason about something good.

Jason did not like the way his name rolled of that tongue and he did not like the prospect of spending  _any_ of his time with the man.

“I’ll have to decline your offer, _Tim-_ ” he managed to spit out the name as if it was an insult, “I’m not so fond of company you see.” He reached for the talisman lying under his pillow. “Especially one in the form of things such as yourself.” He found nothing under his pillow and sweared quietly.

“Are you looking for this?” The unidentified creature said as he held the talisman up in his hand.

So much for Jason’s plan to use a mindcleanser to get out of this nightmare. “Look, Jason, I mean you no harm we could even be of help to each other.” Tim said with a dramatized sigh as he stood up from the chair and turned his back to Jason to look out of the window.

“How so?” Jason asked with a snort. “I think I have a vague understanding of who you are and believe me when I say I don’t want anything to do with you.”

The unnerving blue eyes turned back to look at him. “Do you now?” A whisper said in his ear and suddenly the creature was in his face and Jason could feel and _hear_ his heart hammering in his chest. This was not good. He knew this voice.

“What are you?” The human settled for, alarms blaring in his head. He tried to push the thing off of him but Tim simply grabbed him by his arms and pushed his knee further between Jason’s legs. Thankfully that motion gave him some space but Jason noticed how the glowing eyes settled to look at the tattoos. Tim’s hold was way too strong for him to free his arms and he could only watch as the creature lifted his arms and marveled in the designs. He also got a closer look at the creature’s face and he looked damn ethereal with his too-perfect features and long eyelashes. Now Tim _definitely_ reminded him of Lucifer and that was a very bad thing.

“I get called many things. As to what I am-“ Tim paused as if contemplating what he would say next. “Some call me the warden, some say I _am_ the Void.” Jason shivered as Tim kissed one of the circles tattooed on his arm gently. If he wasn’t freaked out before by this whole ordeal then now he certainly was. “You probably won’t believe me but I’m just doing my job-”

Jason woke up drenched in sweat, Tim’s smirk burned into his memory. He was feeling both hot and cold and he was spotting one of the worst headaches he had ever had. For normal humans this usually meant you were either coming down with the flu or had a nasty hangover, to Jason it meant his soul had been gone from his body. Astral projecting wasn’t usually this nasty though and he guessed he could thank the creature for his sorry state. Tim better not have been lapping away at his life force – he would be damn pissed if so.

“Son of a bitch.” He croaked, throat parched and dry as if he had spend his night in hell and not in the safety of his home. The clock read 4:44 am. Thank god he had managed to wake up.

(He refused to believe that Tim had let him go for a reason.)

A part of him had wanted to get to know more about Tim but the rational part helpfully provided that prolonged contact with unknown entities was bad, especially with entities that claimed to be the Void.

He hoped it wouldn’t be a reoccurring event. He was certain that he should stay as far away from anything Void related from now on. His meddling with the Void had been a primary source for the _something_ in there to get into contact with Jason but it had never been as bad as this.

He suddenly had a strange sense of dread take over and looked at the weird circle symbols on his arms, ignoring the book he was clenching in his hands. Only then did it hit him that he couldn’t remember how or why he had gotten the designs. It was such a sudden revelation that he shivered and panic took over. How had he never questioned himself about strange fucking inscriptions appearing on his body? How had he never questioned his ability to get into contact with the void and open a fucking portal for it at his own discretion? It hit him like a train that he should have heeded the warnings of the people around him and not played with the unknown. For some reason only now did he realize that something was wrong and that made him sick to the stomach.

He looked down when he felt a light pulsate through his hands. He realized he was holding the package Alfred had given him and the feeling of dread calmed down. Was this the reason for his suddenly clear thoughts?

“How did you get here?” He asked no one in particular. He was certain he had placed the book in the safe.

Lifting the book he stroked the pure white cover in wonder. He had not idea how Alfred had gotten his hands on the holy book of knowledge but the man had always been a mystery.

As if flattered by the careful treatment but impatient to be opened the book pulsated again, making Jason blink in surprise. It was as if the book was sentient and Jason could feel what it wanted. He had read things about holy artifacts being special but they were but items in the end. That seemed to somehow annoy the book, if that was even possible, and Jason could feel a tiny shock that made him yelp. It wasn’t painful but it was definitely a warning.

“Aren’t you a sassy thing?” He said in amusement as he opened the book. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so hasty in his actions because he was quite literally knocked back by the knowledge flowing into his being.

It was too much for him to handle and he was glad when the flow stopped. He blinked in confusion, staring up at the ceiling.

“Humans are so weak.” A female voice huffed in Jason’s head and he groaned at the book. How he knew it was the voice of the book was a question he didn’t ask. He should have learned from his mistakes with the tattoos but he didn’t. He just _had_ that knowledge now.

“Shut up, you’re just a book.” He bit back, trying to pacify the splitting headache.

“How dare you mock me, human!” He was tazed again, this time harder. As he pulsated because of the punishing weird energy running through him he could feel the start of a wonderful friendship. A wonderful friendship if he didn’t burn the book first.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t get it. Are you saying that you’re possessed?” Roy said through a mouthful of chips, receiving a dirty glare from Kori. Before continuing to speak the ginger cleared his mouth. “I thought it was impossible with the whole anti-possession mark we have on our body?”

Jason had promised the night before, when he had kicked them out, to meet up with his friends in the morning. It had been a bit sooner than both Kori and Roy liked but neither had backed out when Jason had called them at 6 am.

“That’s the problem, this isn’t a possession more like a power that my body is host to.” Jason said thinking about how to best explain what the book had shown him - after they had laid aside their differences. “My body is used as a medium but the Void has no control over it. It’s actually quite the opposite I’m the one who has control over the Void or well at least to the door of it.”

Kori had been looking at him with a frown the whole time but had otherwise been quiet while Jason explained what had happened that night. “The mark, the tattoo on your arms, is the key. That’s why the Void is after you.” She whispered and then glared at Jason. “You always told us it was a ‘voluntary’ choice to get them tattooed and waved off our concerns. You said you got the magic from your grandma’s spell book but now you’re saying that you don’t remember how you got them to begin with?”

Jason looked at her and nodded gravely. “That’s the thing it is as if a veil has been lifted. My knowledge about the magic I used and the tattoo have been like a God-given all this time and for some reason I didn’t question why-” He carefully placed the holy artefact on the table, “until Oracle helped me.”

“Oh boy, he’s talking to books now.” Roy unhelpfully provided and both the witch and the black haired man glared at him.

“I still can’t believe Alfred got his hands on the book of knowledge.” Kori said in awe as she stroked the cover of the book. Her face lighted up when the book pulsed. The witch loved magical books and was happy to be accepted by Oracle.

“Alfred is awesome but shouldn’t we question him? Isn’t this kind of suspicious.” Roy said. “He should have given the book to the Vatican, he’s a priest and this is a very holy relic. He shouldn’t have been in the possession of it to begin with.”

It was a valid point and Jason frowned. There were a lot of things he didn’t know about the old man but he just couldn’t feel anything but good towards him. The priest had helped him and his family out so many times. He was there when no one else was. 

“We can talk about Alfred later I think we have more pressing matters such as where Jason got this mark and who the hell this Timothy is and what he wants.” Kori said reassuringly, giving Jason the escape and support he needed to continue. Alfred was his family and that’s what counted.

“Thank you.” Jason said earnestly and focused on the subject. “Oracle provided me with a lot of information about the Void and this power but even she didn’t know why or how I got the mark. It’s as much as she could give but it’s better than nothing as none of the records hold this much information. The mark gets inherited by a different host but not automatically; there is a proper ritual for the inheritance. Now what is worrying and actually does not make sense is that the white witches have been the guardians for ages. The host is like a guardian and the new host is picked carefully by the coven. The host needs to have specific qualities and deep knowledge about the subject as to not get affected by the void and the power.” He cleared his throat before speaking again. “I’m definitely not a white witch. The coven has strict regulations and protocols about who becomes the guardians and I’m definitely not meeting the criteria.”

They all frown and silence fills the room.

“Something tells me that whatever happened to the coven of the white witches can’t be good.” Roy breaks the silence, voicing what all three had been thinking. “I think we need to find out what exactly happened to them if we want to find out how and perhaps  _why_ you got the mark.”

“I agree but it won’t be easy finding them, the coven has always lived in secrecy even I know almost nothing about them. I just know that they serve god but not the Vatican and portray themselves as nuns.” The red-haired witch says.

“And-“ Jason drags out his triumph as he points at the book on the table, “that’s where Oracle’s knowledge comes into play again.” A cheeky smile covers his face. “The convent of white witches that _serve_ the void is located on Stolbny Island in Russia. The monastery is on an island surrounded by a forest and a lake, strategic spot to hide don’t you think? Nothing can come on the island and nothing can go off it without permission.”

Roy nods but then Jason’s choice of words make him stop. “Wait what do you mean ‘serve’ the void? Isn’t the void all bad and stuff and they’re guarding whatever is in there from coming out?” He pointedly added, “something you should have been doing instead of feeding it,” under his breath.

Jason gave him the stink eye before answering. “That’s where mythology, and history I guess, as we know it are wrong. Almost everything written about the Void is pure speculation but some of the texts hold the truth. What is true is that the Void is a prison but it is not a being as most texts speculate and _sadly_ not a universal shredder as I thought.” That was the saddest part in al honesty. “It is simply a dimension like Hell, Heaven and Purgatory and has no power by itself.” He takes a deep breath. “Now here comes the hard part. The Void has powers thanks to its ruler, Timothy, one of the original archangels that had been send to the Void as some sort of warden and the coven of the white witches as his guardians. The Void was specifically designed to be a prison for angels, a place devoid of the light of their god, the perfect punishment. The original God did not want to condemn the angels to Hell after what happened with Lucifer and I believe he feared it would give Satan too much power if the dark lord turned the fallen against him.”

His team took in the information greedily. This was a total new take on mythology, one they hadn’t heard before and one that oddly made a lot of sense. A lot of things clicked into place.

“So Timothy, the one that came to you in your dreams, is actually on of the good guys?” Kori asks carefully.

“I- I’m not so sure about that, Kori. I guess even the original angels were assholes if they needed a whole dimension as a prison. Ever since the original God disappeared, no angel has been banished to the Void, now they just fall from grace and into Hell. I think the false god has made sure Timothy won’t get out, it wouldn’t be good if a different archangel eyed the throne of Heaven.” He sighed, “he’s definitely the one that has been communicating with me whenever I would summon the portal and something tells me he has been the one helping me get rid of my problems-” He coughed uneasily and braced himself before continuing, “I fear you might have been right when you said I’ve been feeding the void.” Admitting he was wrong was a hard thing for Jason to do.

Roy threw his hands in the air in exasperation and mockingly says, “Oh my fucking lord, he finally admits it! Hallelujah it took years but here we finally are.”

Kori ignores the outburst of her ginger friend and with a calculative look in her eyes looks at Jason. “I’m just worried about what this archangel has been doing with the souls and demons you’ve thrown into the void. If he’s been eating them then I’m afraid to even imagine what it is he wants from you.”

“Alright, alright, I’ve heard enough bad things for today and I’m feeling this sinister vibe. I think it is time we stop talking and time to get into action instead.” Roy says as he claps his hands. He had been trying to cheer up his friends but they had kept to their moody, brooding subjects. “The sooner we get rid of this mark the better.”

“For once I agree with Roy.” Jason says mockingly. He then falters and his friends look at him worriedly. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess and thank you guys for wanting to help me but if it gets too dangerous you have to leave.”

“Nonsense, Jason! You would do the same for us!” Kori says as she throws herself at the man for a tight hug. “I would die for you, you know that.” She whispered.

Roy joined the embrace from behind the couch. “I’ve already booked the plane tickets.” He whispered and was met with an exasperated grunt and a small snort in answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will have shit going down and will be longer. Stay tuned!  
> Any questions are welcome I would love to explore this world through answering them!

**Author's Note:**

> Cue dark music. Yes, I made Lucifer and Satan two different beings but not everyone knows about this in this universe. Especially humans still think - as the bible portrays - that they are one and the same. If you noticed Jason knows about this and so does Alfred. It is more complicated than that and you’ll find out more as I write. Also the relationship between Jason - indirectly Selina - and the demons will be delved into deeper as the story progresses.


End file.
